


3 



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EULES AND REGULATIONS 






GOVEKNINQ 



FOREST EESEEVES 



Established under Section 24 



OF THE 



-^OT OF ]NJ:A.I10H 3, 1891< 



ISSUED JUNE 30, 1897. 
EHSSUED AUGUST 5, 1898 WITH AMENDMENTS. 



WASHINGTON; 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1898. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS 



GOVEliNIXG 



FOREST RESERVES 



Established under Section 24 



OF THE 



A.CT OF M:A.I1CE[ 3, 1891 



ISSUED JUNE 30, 1897. 
EEISSUED AUGUST 5, 1898 WITH AMENDMENTS. 






WASHINGTON: 

GOVEKNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1898. 



^^' 






vV^ 



p. DEPAr/rMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, J). C, Aiujust 5, 1398. 
The circular eoiitaiuing "Eules aDcl Eegulations Goveruing Forest 
reserves," issued June 30, 1897, is reprinted for the information of the 
public, with the amendments and additions promulgated INIarch 21 and 
August 3, 189S. 

Amendments were made in paragrajdis 11 and 27, and paragraphs 
32 and 33 were added, March 21, 1898. Paragraph 21 was amended 
August 3, 189S. 

PiNGER Hermann, 

Commissioner, 



CIRCUL^I^. 



P. Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Wasliimjton, D. C, June 30, 1897. 

1. Under tbe autliority vested in tlie Secretary of tlie Interior by tlic 
act of Congress, approved June 4, 1897, entitled "An act making appro- 
priations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year 
ending- June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and for other 
liurposes," to make such rules and regulations and establish such serv- 
ice as will insure the objects for which forest reservations are created 
under section 24 of the act of March 3, 1891 (2G.Stat., 1095), the fol- 
lowing rules and regulations are hereby prescribed and promulgated: 

object of forest reservation. 

2. Public forest reservations are established to protect and improve 
the forests for the purpose of securing a permanent supply of timber 
for the people and insuring conditions favorable to continuous water 
flow. 

3. It is the intention to exclude from these reservations, as far as 
possible, lands that are more valuable for the mineral therein, or for 
agriculture, than for forest purposes; and where such lands are embraced 
within the boundaries of a reservation, they may be restored to settle- 
ment, location, and entry. 

PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF LAW AND REGULATIONS. 

4. The law under which these regulations are made provides, that 
any violation of the provisions thereof, or of any rules and regulations 
thereunder, shall be punished as is provided for in the act of June 4, 
1888 (25 Stat., 1G6), amending section 5388 of the Eevised Statutes, 
Avhich reads as follows : 

That section fifty-three hundred and eighty-eight of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States be amended so aa to road as follows: "Every person "vvho unlawfully 
cuts, or aids or is employed in unlawfully cutting, or wantonly destroys or procures 
to be wantonly destroyed, any timber standing iipon the laud of the United States 
which, in pursuance of law, may be reserved or purchased for military or other i)ur- 
poses, or upon any Indian reservation, or lands belouging to or occupied by auy 
tribe of Indians under authority of the United States, shall pay a fine of not more 
than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more than twelve months, or both, 
in the discretion of the court." 

S 



4 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

This provision is additional to the penalties now existing in respect to 
punishment for depredations on the public timber. The Government 
has, also, all the common-law civil remedies, whether for the prevention 
or redress of injuries, which individuals possess. 

5. The act of February 24, 1897 (29 Stat., 591), entitled "An act to 
prevent forest fires on the public domain," provides, 

That any person who sball wilfully or maliciously set on fire, or cause to bo set on 
fire, auy timber, inulerbrusli, or grass upon tlio public domaiu, or shall carelessly or 
negligently leave or sutler lire to burn unattended near any timber or other inflam- 
mable material, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction 
thereof in auy district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the same, 
shall be iiuod in a sum not more than five thousand dollars or be imprisoned for a 
teiTn of not more than two years, or both. 

Sec. 2. That auy person who shall build a camp fire, or other fire, in or near any 
forest, timber, or other inllammablo material upon the public domain, shall, before 
breaking camp or leaving said fire, totally extinguish the same. Any person failing 
to do so shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof in any 
district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the same, shall be fined in 
a sum not more than one thousand dollars, or bo imprisoned for a term of not more 
than one year, or both. 

Skc. 3. That in all cases arising under this act the fines collected shall bo paid 
into the public-school fund of the county in which the lands where the offense was 
committed are situate. 

Large areas of the imblic forests are annually destroyed by lire, orig- 
inating in many instances through the carelessness of prospectors, 
campers, hunters, sheep herders, and others, while in some cases the 
fires are started with malicious intent. So great is the importance of 
protecting forests from fire, that this Department will make special 
effort for the enforcement of the law against all persons guilty of start- 
ing or causing the spread of forest lires in the reservations in violation 
of the above provisions. 

G. The law of June 4, 1897, for forest reserve regulations also pro- 
vides that 

The jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over persons within such reservations 
shall not be affected or changed by reason of the existence of such reservations, 
excej)t so far as the punishment of offenses against the United States therein is con- 
cerned; the intent and meaning of this provision being that the State wherein any 
such reservation is situated shall not, by reason of the establishment thereof, lose its 
jurisdiction, nor the inhabitants thereof their rights and privileges as citizens, or be 
absolved from their duties as citizens of the State. 

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE USES. 

7. It is further provided that 

Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the egress or ingress of actual 
settlers residing within the l)oundaries of such reservations, or from crossing the 
same to and from their projierty or homes ; and such wagon roads and other imj^rove- 
ments may be constructed thereon as may be necessary to reach their homes and to 
utilize their property under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the 
Secretary of the Interior. Nor shall anything herein prohibit any person from 
entering upon such forest reservations for all proper and lawful purposes, including 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 5 

that of prospecting, locating, and developing the mineral resonrces thereor: Pro- 
vided, That such persons comply with the rules and regulations covering such forest 
reservations. 

The settlers residing within the exterior boundaries of such forest reservations, or 
in the vicinity thereof, may maintain schools and churches within such reservation, 
and for that jiurpose may occupy any part of the said forest reservation, not orreed- 
ing two acres for each schoolhouse and one acre for a church. 

All waters on such reservations may he used for domestic, mining, milling, or 
irrigation purposes, under the laws of the State wherein such forest reservations are 
situated, or under the laws of the United States and the rales and regulations 
established thereunder. 

8. Tlie public in entering, crossing and occupying- the reserves, for 
the purposes enumerated in the law, are subject to a strict compliance 
with the rules and regulations governing the reserves. 

9. Private wagon roads and county roads may be constructed over 
the public lands in the reserves wherever they may be found necessary 
or useful, but no rights shall be acquired in said roads running over 
the public lands as against the United States. Before public timber, 
stone or other material can be taken for the construction of such roads, 
permission must first be obtained from the Secretary of the Interior. 
The application for such privilege should describe the location and 
direction of the road, its length and width, the probable quantity of 
material required, the location of such material, and its estimated 
value. 

10. The permission to occupy public lands in the reserves for school- 
houses and churches, as provided for in the law, is merely a privilege, 
and is subject to any future disposition that may be made of such tracts 
by the United States. 

11. The right of way in and across forest reservations for irrigating 
canals, ditches, flumes and pipes, reservoirs, electric power purposes, 
and for pipe lines, will be subject to existing laws and regulations. 
(Amended March 21, 1898 j see p. 10.) 

12. Under the term " to regulate their occupancy and use,"' the Sec- 
retary of the Interior is authorized to grant such licenses and privi- 
leges, from time to time, as may seem to him proper and not inconsistent 
with the objects of the reservations nor incompatible with the public 
interests. 

13. The pasturing of live stock on the public lauds in forest reserva- 
tions will not be interfered with, so long as it appears that injury is not 
being done to the forest growth, and the rights of others are not thereby 
jeopardized. The pasturing of sheep is, however, prohibited in all for- 
est reservations, except those in the States of Oregon and Washington, 
for the reason that sheep grazing has been found injurious to the forest 
cover, and therefore of serious consequence in regions where the rain- 
fall is limited. The exception in favor of the States of Oregon and 
Washington is made because the continuous moisture and abundant 
rainfall of the Cascade and Pacific Coast ranges make ra])id renewal 
of herbage and undergrowth possible. Owners of sheep are required 



6 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

to make application to tlie Commissioner of tlie General Land Office 
for permission to pasture, stating the number of sbeep and the location 
on the reserves v>'liere it is desired to graze. Permission will be refused 
or revoked wbenever it sball appear that sbeep are pastured on parts 
of tbe reserves specially liable to injury, or upon and in the vicinity of 
tbc Bull Kun reserve, Crater Lake, Mount Hood, Mount Eainier, or 
other well-known places of public resort or reservoir supplJ^ Permis- 
sion will also cease upon proof of neglect as to the care of fires made 
by herders, or of the violation by them of any of the forest reserve 
regulations. 

EELINQUISH3IENT OF CLAIMS. 

14. The law provides that where a tract within a forest reservation 
is covered by an unperfected bona fide claim, or by a patent, the settler 
or owner may, if he so desires, relinquish the tract to the United States 
and select in lieu thereof a tract of vacant public land outside of the 
reservation, open to settlement, not exceeding in area the tract relin- 
quished. No charge is to be made for placing the new entry of record. 
This is in consideration of previous fees and commissions paid. Where 
the entry is in lieu of an unperfected one, the necessary fees in the 
making of final proof and issuance of certificate will be required. 
Where the entrj^ is based on an unsurveyed claim, as i^rovidcd for in 
paragraph 17 hereof, all fees and commissions attending entry must be 
I)aid, none having been paid previously. 

15. Where an ajiplication is made for change of entry under the 
above provision, it must be filed in the land office for the district in 
which the lieu selection lies. The application must describe the tract 
selected and the tract covered by the unperfected entry, and must be 
accomi)anied by a formal relinquishment to the LTnited States of all 
right, title and interest in and to the tract embraced in said entry. 
There must also be filed Avith the api^lication an affidavit, corroborated 
by at least two witnesses cognizant of the facts, showing the periods 
and length of claimant's residence on his relinquished claim, as credit 
for the time spent thereon will be allowed under the new entry in com- 
puting the period of residence required bylaw. Eesidence and improve- 
ments are requisite on the new entry, the same as on the old, subject 
only, in respect to residence, to a deduction of the period covered by the 
relinquished entry. 

16. Where final certificate or patent has issued, it will be necessary 
for the entryman or owner thereunder to. execute a quit-claim deed to 
the United States, have the same recorded on the county records, and 
furnish an abstract of title, duly authenticated, showing chain of title 
from the Government back again to the United States. The abstract of 
title should accompany the application for changeof entry, which must be 
filed as required by paragraph 15, without the affidavit therein called for. 

17. In case a settler on an unsurveyed tract within a forest reserva- 
tion desires to make a change of settlement to land outside of the reser- 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 7 

vation and receive credit for prcvions residence, lie should file liis 
application as provided for in paragraph 15, including the allidavit as 
to residence therein required, and describing his unsurveyed claim with 
sufficient accuracy to enable the local land oflicers to approxima).ely 
determine its location. 

18. All applications for change of entry or settlement must be for- 
warded by the local officers to the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office for consideration, together with rexiort as to the status of the 
tract applied for. 

LOCATION AND ENTRY OF MINERAL LANDS. 

19. The law provides that '^any mineral lands in any forest reserva- 
tion which have been or which may be shown to be such, and subject 
to entry under the existing mining laws of the United States and the 
rules and regulations applying thereto, shall continue to be subject to 
such location and entry," notwithstanding the reservation. This makes 
mineral lands in the forest reserves subject to location and entry under 
the general mining laws in the usual manner. 

20. Owners of valid mining locations made and- held in good faith 
under the mining laws of the United States and the regulations there- 
under, are authorized and permitted to fell and remove from such min- 
ing claims any timber growing thereon, for actual mining x)urposes in 
connection with the particular claim from which the timber is felled or 
removed. (For further use of timber by miners, see below under head- 
ing "Free use of timber and stone.") 

FREE USE OF TIMBER AND STONE. 

21. The law provides that 

Tlio Secretary of the Interior may permit, under regulations to he prescribed by 
Lim, the use of timber and stone found upon sucli reservations, free of charge, by 
bona tide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fenc- 
ing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and other domestic purposes, as may be needed 
by such persons for such jiurposes ; such timber to be used Avithin the State or Terri- 
tory, respectively, -where such reservations may be located. 

This provision is limited to persons resident in forest reservations 
who have not a sufficient supply of timber or stone on their own claims 
or lands for the purposes enumerated, or for necessary use in develop- 
ing the mineral or other natural resources of the lands owned or occu- 
pied by them. Such persons, therefore, are permitted to take timber 
and stone from public lands in the forest reservations under the terms 
of the law above quoted, strictly for their individual use on their own 
claims or lands owned or occujiied by them, but not for sale or disposal, 
or use on other lands, or by other persons: Provided, That where the 
stumpage value exceeds one hundred dollars, application must be made 
to and permission given by the Department. (Amended August 3, 
1898; seep. 12.) 



8 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

SALE OF TIMBER. 

22. Tlie following provision is made for tlie sale of timber witliin 
forest reservations in limited quantities: 

For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the 
younger growth on forest reservations, the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules 
and regulations as he shall prescribe, may cause to be designated and appraised so 
much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found upon such forest reserva- 
tions as may be compatible with the utilization of the forests thereon, and may sell 
the same for not less than the appraised value in such quantities to each purchaser 
as he shall prescribe, to be used in tbo State or Territory in which such timber reser- 
vation may bo situated, respectively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale 
shall take place, notice thereof shall be given by the Commissioner of the General 
Laud Office, for not less than sixty days, by publication in a newspaper of general 
circulation, published in the county in which the timber is situated, if any is therein 
published, and if not, then in a newspaper of general circulation published nearest 
to the reservation, and also in a newspaper of general circulation published at the 
capital of the State or Territory where such reservation exists; payments for such 
timber to be made to the receiver of the local laud office of the district Avherein said 
timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior 
may prescribe; and the moneys arising Iherefrom shall be accounted for by the 
receiver of such laud office to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a 
separate account, and shall be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before being 
sold, shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the super- 
vision of some person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of the Interior, 
not interested in the purchase or removal of such timber nor in the employment of 
the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall make a report in writing to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office and to the receiver in the land office in which 
such reservation shall be located of his doings in the premises. 

The sale of timber is optional, and the Secretary may exercise liis 
discretion at all times as to the necessity or desirability of any sale. 

23. While sales of timber may be directed by this Department with- 
out previous request from private individuals, petitions from responsible 
persons for the sale of timber in particular localities will be considered. 
Such petitions must describe the land upon which the timber stands by 
legal subdivisions, if surveyed; if unsurveyed, as definitely as possible 
by natural landmarks; the character of the country, whether rough, 
steep or mountainous, agricultural or mineral, or valuable chiefly for 
its forest growth; and state whether or not the removal of the timber 
would result injuriously to the objects of forest reservation. If any of 
the timber is dead, estimate the quantity in feet, board measure, with 
the value, and state whetlier killed by fire or other cause. Of the live 
timber, state the diiferent kinds and estimate the quantity of each kind 
in trees per acre. Estimate the average diameter of each kind of tim- 
ber, and estimate the number of trees of each kind j)ev acre above the 
average diameter. State the number of trees of each kind above the 
average diameter it is desired to have offered for sale, with an estimate 
of the number of feet, board measure, therein, and an estimate of the 
value of the timber as it stands. These petitions must be filed in the 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 9 

proper local land office, for transmission to the Commissioner of tlie 
General Land Office. 

24. Before any sale is authorized, the timber will be examined and 
appraised, and other questions involved duly investigated, by an official 
designated for the purpose; and upon his report action will be basea. 

25. When a sale is ordered, notice thereof will be given by publica- 
tion by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in accordance 
with the law above quoted ; and if the timber to be sold stands in more 
than one county, published notice will be given in each of the counties, 
in addition to the required general publication. 

26. The time and place of tiling bids, and other information for a 
correct understanding of the terms of each sale, will be given in the 
published notices. Timber is not to be sold for less th;m the appraised 
value, and when a bid is accepted a certificate of acceptance will be 
issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the success- 
ful bidder, who, at the time of making i)ayment, must present the same 
to the receiver of public moneys for the land district in which the 
timber stands. The Commissioner of the General Land Office must 
approve all sales, and he may, in sales in excess of five hundred dollars 
in value, make allotments of quantity to several bidders at a fixed price, 
if he deems proper, so as to avoid monoi3oly. The right is also reserved 
to reject any or all bids. A reasonable cash deposit with the proper 
receiver of x)ublic moneys, to accompany each bid, will be required. 

27. Within thirty days after notice to a bidder of an award of timber 
to him, payment must be made in full to the receiver for the timber so 
awarded. The purchaser must have in hand the receipt of the receiver 
for such payment before he will be allowed to cut, remove, or otherwise 
dispose of the timber in any manner. The timber must all be cut and 
removed within one year from the date of the notice by the receiver of 
the award; failing to so do, the purchaser will forfeit his right to the 
timber left standing or unrcmoved and to his purchase money. 
(Amended March 21, 189S; see p. 11.) 

28. Sixty days' notice must be given by the purchaser, through the 
local land office, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, of the 
proposed date of cutting and removal of the timber, so that an official 
may be designated to supervise such cutting and removal, as required 
by the law. Upon application of purchasers, permits to erect temporary 
sawmills for the purpose of cutting or manufacturing timber purchased 
under this act may be granted by the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, if not incompatible with the public interests. Instructions 
as to disposition of tops, brush and refuse, to be given through the 
supervisors in each case, must be strictly complied with, as a condition 
of said cutting and manufacture. 

29. The act provides that the timber sold shall be used in the State 
or Territory in which the reservation is situated, and is not to be 
ex2)orted therefrom. Where a reservation lies in more than one State 



10 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

or Tcrritoryj this requires tliat tlie timber shall be used in the State or 
Territory where cut. 

30, Eeceivers of public moneys will issue receipts in duplicate for 
moneys received in payment for timber, one of which will be given the 
purchaser, and the other will be transmitted to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office in a special letter, reference being made to the 
letter from the Commissioner authorizing the sale, by date and initial, 
and with title of case as therein named. Eeceivers will deposit to the 
credit of the United States all such moneys received, specifying that 
the same are on account of sales of public timber on forest reservations 
under the act of June 4, 1897. A separate monthly account-current 
(Form 4-105) and quarterly condensed account (Form 4-104) will be 
made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with a statement 
in relation to the receipts under the act as above specified. 

31. Special instructions will be issued for the guidance of officials 
designated to examine and appraise timber, to supervise its cutting and 
removal, and for carrying out other requirements connected therewith. 

Linger Hermann, 

Commissioner. 
Approved June 30, 1897 : 

C. N. Bliss, Secretary. 

(For additional regulations, see page 11.) 



CIRCXJI^^VR. 



AMEiNDMEiNTS TO RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING 
FOREST RESERVES. 



p. Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. C, March 21, 1898. 

The following amendments and additions to the Eules and Eegula- 
tions Governing Forest Eeserves, issued June 30, 1897, are hereby 
prescribed and promulgated: 

Paragraph 11 is amended to read as follows: 

11. The right of way in and across forest reservations for irrigating 
canals, ditches, flumes and pipes, reservoirs, electric power purposes, 
and for pipt lines, will be subject to existing laws and regulations j and 
the applicant or applicants for such right will be required, if deemed 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 11 

advisable by tbe Commissioner of the General Laud Office, to give bond 
in a satisfactory snrety company to the Government of the United 
States, to be approved by him, snch bond stipnlating that the makers 
thereof will pay to the United States for any and all damage to the 
public lauds, timber, natural curiosities or other public property on such 
reservation or upon the lands of the United States, by reason of such 
use and occupation of the reserve, regardless of the cause or circum- 
stances under which such damage may occur. 

Paragraph 27 is amended to read as follows: 

27. Within thirty days after notice to a bidder of an award of timber 
to him, payment must be made in full to the receiver for the timber so 
awarded; or equal payments therefor maj^ be made in thirty, sixty and 
ninety days from date of such notice, at the option of the purchaser. 
The purchaser must have in hand the receipt of the receiver for each 
payment before he will be allowed to cut, remove, or otherwise dispose 
of the timber covered by that payment. The timber must all be cut 
and removed withiu one year from the date of the notice by the receiver 
of the award; failing to do so, the purchaser will forfeit his right to the 
timber left standing or unremoved and to his inirchase money : Provided^ 
That the limit of one year herein named may be extended by the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office, in his discretion, upon good and 
sufficient reasons being shown. 

The following additional regulations are prescribed: 

32. In order to meet the necessities of persons, firms, companies, or 
corporations, whose business requires a large and continuous supply of 
timber, it is hereby provided that where the annual consumption exceeds 
one million feet of timber, board measure, application for the succeeding 
year's supply maybe made in time to permit the appraisement and salo 
of the timber desired six months in advance of its actual need. 

33. Where timber has been appraised and advertised for sale and no 
satisfactory bid has been offered, a new appraisement and sale may be 
ordered, from time to time, until an appraisement and sale has been 
made, which shall receive the approval of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office. 

BiNGER Hermann, 

Commissioner, 
Approved March 21, 1898: 

C iST. Bliss, Secretary, 



12 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

CIRCXJL^VR. 



AMENDMENT TO RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING 
FOREST RESERVES. 

p. Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Waslmigton, JD. C, August 3, 189S. 
Paragraph 21 of the Rules and Eegiilations Goveruiug Forest 
Pcserves, issued June 30, 1897, is hereby amended to read as follows: 

free use of timber and stone. 

21. The law provides that 

The Secretary of the Interior may permit, under regulations to he prescriheil hy 
him, the use of timber and stone found upon such reservations, free of charge, by 
bona fide settlers, miuers, residents, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, 
fencing, buildings, miniug, prospecting, and other domestic purposes, as may be 
needed by such persons for such purposes; such timber to bo used within the State 
or Territory, respectively, where such reservations may be located. 

This provision is limited to persons resident in forest reservations or 
■within a reasonable distance thereof in the State or Territory where 
the forest reservation is located who have not a sufficient supply of 
timber or stone on their own claims or lands for the purposes ennmer- 
ated, or for necessary use in developing the mineral or other natural 
resources of the lands owned or occupied by them. Such persons, there- 
fore, are permitted to take timber and stone from jiublic lauds in the 
forest reservations under the terms of the law above quoted, strictly 
for their individual use on their own claims or lands owned or occupied 
by them within the State or Territory where such reservation is located, 
but not for sale or disposal, or use on other lands, or by other persons: 
Provided, That where the stumpage value exceeds one hundred dollars, 
applications must be made to and permission given by the Department. 

BiNGER Hermann, 

Commissiona'. 

Approved August 3, 1898 : 

C. ]Sr. Bliss, Secretary. 



The text of the law under which the above rules and regulations are 
prescribed is as follows : 

[30 Stat., 34-3C.] 

AX ACT ll.akiii<r aiiprnpriations for Bumlry civil expenses of llic Govcriiniciit for the fiscal 5earcnd- 
iug June thirtictli, eighteen hiirdred and ninety-eight, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate ani House of Represntatives of the United 
and the same are hereby, appropriated, for the objects hereinafter 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 13 

expressed, for the fiscal year eudiug June tliirtietb, eighteen limulred 
aud niuety-eiglit, namely : 

# # # # # # # 

For the survey of the public lands that have been or may hereafter 
be designated as forest reserves by Executive proclamation, under sec- 
tion t\yenty-four of the Act of Congress approved Marcli third, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An Act to repeal timber-culture laws, 
and for other purposes," and including jniblic lands adjacent thereto, 
•which may be designated for survey by the Secretary of the Interior, 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be immediately available: 
Provided, That to remove any doubt which may exist pertaining to the 
authority of the President thereunto, the President of tlie United 
States is hereby authorized and empowered to revoke, modify, or sus- 
pend any and all such Executive orders and proclamations, or any part 
thereof, from time to time as he shall deem best for the public interests: 
Provided, That the Executive orders and proclamations dated February 
twenty-second, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, setting apart and 
reserving certain lands in the States of Wyoming, Utah, Montana, 
Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota as forest reservations, be, and 
they are hereby, suspended, and the lands embraced therein restored 
to the public domain the same as though said orders and proclamations 
had not been issued: Provided further, That lands embraced in such 
reservations not otherwise disposed of before March first, eighteen hun- 
dred aud ninety-eight, shall again become subject to the operations of 
said orders and proclamations as now existing or hereafter modified by 
the President. 

Tlie surveys herein provided for shall bo made, under the supervision 
of the Director of the Geological Survey, by such person or persons as 
may be employed by or under him for that purpose, and shall be exe- 
cuted under instructions issued by the Secretary of the Interior; aud 
if subdivision surveys shall be found to be necessary, they shall be 
executed under the rectangular system, as now provided by law. The 
plats and field notes prepared shall be approved and certified to by the 
Director of the Geological Survey, and two copies of the field notes 
shall be returned, one for the files in the United States surveyor-gen- 
eral's ofiice of the State in which the reserve is situated, the other iu the 
General Land Office; and twenty photolithographic copies of the plats 
shall be returned, one copy for the files in the United States surveyor- 
general's office of the State in which the reserve is situated; the origi- 
nal plat and the other copies shall be filed in the General Land Office, 
and shall have the facsimile signature of the Director of the Survey 
attached. 

Such surveys, field notes, and plats thus returned shall have the 
same legal force and eifect as heretofore given the surveys, field notes, 
and plats returned through the surveyors-general; and such surveys, 
which include subdivision surveys under the rectangular system, shall 
be approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Ofllce as in. 
other cases, and properly certified copies thereof shall be filed in the 
respective land offices of the district in which such lands are situated, 
as in other cases. All laws inconsistent with the provisions hereof are 
hereby declared inoperative as respects such survey: Provided, Jioicever, 
That a copy of every topographic map and other maps showing the 
distribution of the forests, together with such fiekl notes as may be 
taken relating thereto, shall be certified thereto by the Director of the 
Survey and filed in the General Land Office. 

All public lands heretofore designated and reserved by the President 
of the United States under the provisions of the Act approved Marcli 



14 EULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

tbird, eigliteeu liuiulred aud uinety-oiic, the orders for wbicli sball be 
and remain in full force and effect, unsuspended and nnrevoked, and 
all public lands that may hereafter be set aside and reserved as public 
forest reserves under said act, shall be as far as practicable controlled 
and administered in accordance with the following provisions: 

No public forest reservation shall be established, except to imj)rove 
iind protect the forest within the reservation, or for the purpose of 
securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a contin- 
uous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the 
United States; but it is not the purpose or intent of these provisions, 
or of the Act providing for sucli reservations, to authorize the inclu- 
sion therein of lauds more valuable for the mineral therein, or for agri- 
cultural purposes, than for forest purposes. 

The Secretary of the Interior shall nnike provisions for the protec- 
tion against destruction by fire and depredations upon the public for- 
ests and forest reservations which may have been set aside or which 
may be hereafter set aside under the said Act of March third, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-one, and which may be continued; and he may 
make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will 
insure the objects of such reservations, namely, to regulate their occu- 
pancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction; 
and any violation of the provisions of this Act or such rules and regu- 
lations shall be punished as is provided for in the Act of June fourth, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, amending section fifty-three hun- 
dred and eighty-eight of the Eevised Statutes of the United States. 

For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and 
promoting the younger growth on forest reservations, the Secretary of 
the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, 
may cause to be designated and appraised so nuich of the dead, 
matured, or large growth of trees found upon such forest reservations 
as may be com])atible with the utilizatiou of the forests thereon, and 
may sell the same for not less than the aj^praised value in such quanti- 
ties to each purchaser as he shall i»rescribe, to be used in the State or 
Territory in which such timber reservation may be situated, respec- 
tively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale shall take place, 
notice thereof shall be given by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Oflice, for not less than sixty days, by publication in a newspaper of 
general circulation, published in the county in which the timber is situ- 
ated, if any is therein published, and if not, then in a newsjiaper of 
general circulation published nearest to the reservation, and also in a 
newspaper of general circulation published at the capital of the State 
or Territory wliere such reservation exists; payments for such limber 
to be made to the receiver of the local land oflice of the district wherein 
said timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secre- 
tary of the Interior may prescribe; and the moneys arising therefrom 
shall be accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Oflice, in a separate account, and shall 
be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before being sold, shall be 
marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the super- 
vision of some person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of 
the Interior, not interested in the i^urchase or removal of such timber 
nor in the employment of the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall 
make report in writing to the Commissioner of the General Land Oflice 
and to the receiver in the land office in which such reservation shall be 
located of his doings in the i)remises. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 15 

The Secretary of the Interior may permit, iiiuler regulations to bo 
prescribed by him, the use of timber and stoue found ui)on such reser- 
vations, free of charge, by bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and 
prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, pros- 
liecting, and other domestic purposes, as may be needed by such persons 
for such purposes ; such timber to be used within the State or Territory, 
respectively, where such reservations may be located. 

Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the egress or ingress 
of actual settlers residing within the boundaries of such reservations, 
or from crossing the same to and from their property or homes; and 
such wagon roads and other improvements may be constructed thereon 
as may be necessary to reach their homes and to utilize their property 
under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary 
of the Interior. Nor shall anything herein prohibit any ])erson from 
entering upon such forest reservations for all proper and lawful pur- 
poseSjincludingthatof prospecting, locating, and developing the mineral 
resources thereof: Provided, That such i)ersons comply with the rules 
and regulations covering such forest reservations. 

That in cases in which a tract covered by an uni^erfected bona fide 
claim or by a patent is included within the limits of a public forest 
reservation, the settler or owner thereof may, if he desires to do so, 
relinquish the tract to the Governiuent, and may select in lieu thereof 
a tract of vacant land open to settlement not exceedin.g in area the tract 
covered by his claim or patent; and no charge shall be made in such 
cases for making the entry of record or issuing the patent to cover the 
tract selected : Provided further, That in cases of unperfected claims the 
ret]uirements of the laws respecting settlement, residence, improvements, 
and so forth, are complied with on the new claims, credit being allowed 
for the time spent on the relinquished claims. 

The settlers residing within theexterior bouiulariesof such forest reser- 
vations, or in the vicinity thereof, may nmintain schools and churches 
within such reservation, and for that purpose may occupy any part of 
said forest reservation, not exceeding two acres for each schoolhouse 
and one acre for a church. 

The jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over persons within such 
reservations shall not be effected or changed by reason of the existence 
of such reservations, except so far as the punishment of offenses against 
the United States therein is concerned; the intent and meaning of this 
provision being that the State wherein any such reservation is situated 
shall not, by reason of the establishment thereof, lose its jurisdiction, 
nor the inhabitants thereof their rights and privileges as citizens, or bo 
absolved from their duties as citizens of the State. 

All waters on such reservations may be used for domestic, mining, 
milling, or irrigation purposes, under the laws of the State wherein 
such forest reservations are situated, or under the laws of the United 
States and the rules and regulations established thereunder. 

Upon the recommendation of the Secretarj^ of the Interior, with tho 
approval of the President, after sixty days' notice thereof, published in 
two papers of general circulation in the State or Territory wherein any 
forest reservation is situated, and near the said reservation, any public 
lands embraced within tlie limits of any forest reservation which, after 
due examination by personal ilispection of a competent person appointed 
for that purpose by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be found better 
adapted for mining or for agricultural purposes than for forest usage, 
may be restored to the public domain. And any mineral lands in any 



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16 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING FOREST RESERVES. 

forest reservation wliicb have becD or wliicli may be sliown to be sucli, 
and subject to entry under the existing mining laws of the United 
States and the rules and regulations applying thereto, shall continue 
to be subject to such location and entry, notwithstanding any provisions 
herein contained. 

The President is hereby authorized at any time to modify any Exec- 
utive order that has been or may hereafter be made establishing any 
forest reserve, and by such moditication may reduce the area or change 
the boundary lines of such reserve, or may vacate altogether any order 
creating such reserve. 

* * * =:? -iJ- ■:::■ i& 

Approved June 4, 1897. 



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